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'Call Of Duty: Black Ops 2' Review - Part Two: Multiplayer (Xbox 360)

The last Call of Duty game came out a year ago. Modern Warfare 3 was a big, flashy game with a decent multiplayer that, as far as I could tell, really didn’t stand out all that much.

Black Ops 2 tightens up, expands upon, and improves on MW3 in just about every way, and even though the changes aren’t revolutionary, the package as a whole feels like a much more complete experience.

I’m no Call of Duty aficionado, and even with the many improvements to the user interface, customization/leveling, and maps this may not be worth the ticket price unless you’re either a really big fan, or you haven’t picked up a title in the franchise in a while.

Still, this is an impressive multiplayer experience. For the purposes of this review we’ll just look at the competitive stuff, and save the co-op Zombie mode for next time.

The Maps

Probably the most impressive surface-level improvement in Black Ops 2 over past titles are the maps.

Just as the single-player campaign boasts some of the best graphics on consoles to-date (and look even better on PC) the multiplayer maps are gorgeous.

They may not be a huge step up from the maps in MW3, but they feel deeper, more three-dimensional, and more vibrant. There are more moving pieces to navigate, and fewer camping spots.

Most maps give you a sense of vulnerability at all times, while at the same time giving you more cover from bombardment from above.

Or at least that’s my experience so far, and maybe it’s just my experience. But I find the maps add a level of balance to the game not found in previous titles.

“Pick 10″

The most revolutionary thing about black Ops 2 multiplayer is the new Create-a-Class system. You can basically create your own build from scratch. The real twist, though, is the Pick 10 system. You get to customize your class load out not simply based on predefined slots such as Primary and Secondary weapons.

Instead, you get 10 total slots to fill up and can tinker with how you want to load out based on that total. As you progress you get Wildcards which allow you to tinker further, equipping to slot one perks, for instance, though you’ll have to ditch some other item (like one of your grenade slots, or a different perk, or your secondary weapon—really, it’s all up to you.)

Everything is customizable at this point. You unlock weapons, attachments, weapon skins, graphics for your custom-designed emblem, and lots more. But each item you load out with will cost you one of your 10 points. It’s a pretty great innovation, even if on paper it doesn’t sound like it. It makes each build you work on much more unique, encouraging players to try different custom builds and adding much-needed balance.

The balance isn’t perfect, mind you. The target-finder scope is cheap, and even though you can equip perks that make it less dangerous, it’s still annoying to watch a kill cam of some guy shooting you with a great big red diamond helping him out. Other balancing issues remain as well, but that’s a pretty hard wrinkle to work out and really no shooter gets this 100% right.

If I had my way, I’d get rid of UAVs and other call-ins altogether, for that matter. Easily the weakest and most irritating part of any Call of Duty game is being killed from the air.

Score-Streak

To call down those annoying aerial assaults, Treyarch has abandoned the Kill Streak mechanism and replaced it with Score Streak.

As this suggests, getting kills is no longer quite as important as it was in the past. Points are earned for all sorts of actions, and you can actually score pretty well now in a support role. This encourages team work more in than in past titles. Combine this with the deeper custom classes and the matches become more team-based and fun. I found myself scoring much better than in past games, and having a good time doing it.

Final Verdict

Whereas the single-player campaign holds your hand throughout, making it feel a lot like a chaotic, visually stunning tutorial, the multiplayer in Black Ops 2 is an excellent upgrade in just about every sense. The clean UI and intuitive customization options, the better maps, and the familiar controls all make for a very tight competitive experience.

The new League Play feature also adds to player options, allowing players to join in games with players of a similar skill level. The eSports focus here isn’t hard to spot. I haven’t played the League Play yet, and will write a follow-up post once I have. I tend to enjoy playing against better players than myself because I believe it makes me a better player and keeps my ego in check. Actually, it keeps my ego from even showing up.

To be fair, while I started out pretty shabby, I found my wayto the middle of the pack pretty quickly, and even had a few good runs near the top.

But some of the Call of Duty gamers out there basically abandon the real world altogether for the first 48-72 hours after each new game’s release (and have clocked thousands of hours in previous games) and there’s just no way I’ll ever be talented enough to play against that kind of commitment. Nor do I care to.

All told, while Modern Warfare 3 left me feeling nonplussed, Black Ops 2 has me hooked. I wish there were more maps, but there are so many different modes and customization options that you really won’t have a hard time finding replay value here. If only Activision released free map packs, this could be a great game. As it stands, while the single-player campaign was okay at best, the multiplayer is very good, warts and all.

Is it worth your hard-earned cash? If you’re a big fan of the franchise, absolutely. For my part, I think it’s a shame they don’t release the multiplayer mode as a solo purchase. These yearly releases are a bit ridiculous.

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Getting killed from the air is irritating if the player isn’t using a specialized class. The ‘lizzard’ perk, (I can’t remember the name), and Blind Eye are fun to play with.

Maps look much better than in previous editions because they offer a wider color spectrum. Black Ops 2 is the first Call of Duty to break from the drab greens and browns that layered every game before it. The maps are full of life and the overall feel of the game is more fluid and vibrant.

It’s easily the best Call of Duty ever made.

On releasing multiplayer seperately, it make sense to players that play this mode excluisvely. At the same time, there are plenty of users that are awful at multiplayer and actually get the game for zombies and campaign.

Well, here is the truth about this game having played it and every other single person shooter game that has evolved over the years. I will give this game a 4 out of 10 rating. It basically is MW3 all over again which was widely criticized for the “campability” of the game. The maps are all very detailed with to many hiding spots and to much emphasis on modern technology and modern graphics. In my expierience with most of the games, less is more! Having 3 million perks,attachments, medals, achievments ,killstreaks, (Some which are pratically impossible to ever receive)etc,etc,,, makes this game just to complicated. All weaponery is almost all “space aged graphics” with most of the guns undistinguishable from one another. The audio in my personal opinion is weak also. The gun sounds are far from realistic and honestly kinda cheezy. I will admit there are some quality maps of which there are many to play and choose from and will take countless hours of gameplay to ever remember and get really dialed in. I was very frustrated with how important your internet connection plays on the outcome of both your game and your performance in the game. Having “HOST PRO” is what determins how high your frustration level will reach. Getting killed in a millisecond by someone you can’t ever see, gets old real quick just like in MW3. The campers, and the countless camping spot opputunities matched with modern space aged guns with laser beams and the always present internet connectabilty issues made this writer and hundreds of people I chatted with in the lobbies all seemed to agree on one issue. Black Ops 2 would have had been much better if they just left the game the same as Black Ops 1, just came up with 20 more map packs using the same weaponary, game style and ease of play. Remember Treyarch, “Don’t fix something if it isn’t really broken in the first place”!!